I'm no expert, but please don't take Cambridge Display Tech's announcements too seriously. Their intellectual property portfolio is far inferior to Universal Display Corporation, plus they have a tendency to lean towards hype and hyperbole in their press releases and corporate presentations. The lifetimes of blue emitters remains the most significant obstacle preventing the widespread mass manufacture of OLEDs, be they small molecule or polymeric. Hopefully, a usable blue phosophorescent material [aka a blue phosphorescent material with good enough color coordinates] will be discovered within the next 1-2 years, but it's impossible to predict these things.

Not really worth mentioning a screen that is only 10" big. Nor one with 27". I'm sorry, but at that size pretty much any display can look great.
Until they manage to show us a 50" screen prototype (minimum), the technology is not worth waiting for.

For anyone,
Would this be true of "all" display technologies?
42" & 47" 1080p flat panels; are "not worth" it?
How about 32" HiDef direct view CRT's; are they "worth" it?

50" plasmas 'always' looked the 'best'. Maybe, there is something magical about 50(+)".

Then again, maybe its the all important viewing distance!

"I wonder if any of the releases had slipcovers though.""Are these comfirmed to have slipcovers?""They look nice in those slips.""This slipcover looks too good to pass up."

Newbie Q:
What's the largest OLED in the consumer market today?
What does it cost?
[if OLED's are only found in phones right now, can we at least assume a 1 1/2" OLED is cheaper than a 1 1/2" LCD?]
Thank you.

"I wonder if any of the releases had slipcovers though.""Are these comfirmed to have slipcovers?""They look nice in those slips.""This slipcover looks too good to pass up."

OLEDs are still only used in the handheld market. Once major advantage OLED has over LCD is lower power usage. OLED requires little to no power for static images which is very important for battery operated handheld devices. But OLED still costs at least 50% more than LCD.

Going to larger sizes is not straight forward as the requirements are much different for TVs and desktop monitors than for the handheld devices. The lifetime issue is one such problem. Displays larger than 2" also require going from Passive Matrix to Active Matrix. Active Matrix OLED is inherently more expensive to manufacturer than Passive Matrix due to lower yields and higher backplane costs. Each red/green/blue subpixel requires one or more transistor. Currently, a 2" Active Matrix panel is well over double the cost of a similar LCD panel. There are other issues as well.

Many OLED companies are working on these issues but it will be many years before all of these come together so that OLED can compete with the other large flat screen TVs that are currently available and continue to drop in price.

OLEDs are still only used in the handheld market. Once major advantage OLED has over LCD is lower power usage. OLED requires little to no power for static images which is very important for battery operated handheld devices. But OLED still costs at least 50% more than LCD.

Going to larger sizes is not straight forward as the requirements are much different for TVs and desktop monitors than for the handheld devices. The lifetime issue is one such problem. Displays larger than 2" also require going from Passive Matrix to Active Matrix. Active Matrix OLED is inherently more expensive to manufacturer than Passive Matrix due to lower yields and higher backplane costs. Each red/green/blue subpixel requires one or more transistor. Currently, a 2" Active Matrix panel is well over double the cost of a similar LCD panel. There are other issues as well.

Many OLED companies are working on these issues but it will be many years before all of these come together so that OLED can compete with the other large flat screen TVs that are currently available and continue to drop in price.

Hood,
Thanks for getting me up to speed w/this new tech.
I'll not be waiting now for the '08 Super Bowl to buy OLED!
Became disillusioned w/LCD's issues & wanted to hear about what may be just down the road.
From what you posted, I'm thinking 2010-12 B4 50" OLED are out in mass.
Thanks for keeping it real in the hood.

"I wonder if any of the releases had slipcovers though.""Are these comfirmed to have slipcovers?""They look nice in those slips.""This slipcover looks too good to pass up."

Does anyone have any information on how long it will take for OLEDs to make it into things like PDA's and laptop screens? I was pretty sure Sony had made a Clie PDA a year or two ago that had an OLED screen but it was only released in Japan. Seems like the OLEDs would be great for PDA/smartphones, the new UMPCs, and laptops. But I wonder if they can be used in a touch-screen type application?

Jacksonian, the active matrix OLED on the Clie VZ-90 was fabulous. Unfortunately, Sony was unable to mass manufacture OLED displays in sufficient quantities to make a profit.

Since January 2007, Samsung SDI has slowly began to mass manufacture these displays. Right now their OLEDs can be found in 2.2" displays on the Clix2 mp3 player, and a kyocera cell phone. Over the next 9-12 months they will begin ramping up to larger sizes, such as 3" up to maybe 5". It will probably be 2-3 years before we see laptop-sized screens, and as much as 5 years before we see small HDTVs with OLEDs.

OLEDs are great for PDAs and smartphones, they are far more energy efficient and vibrant and attractive than LCDs. They can be used with touch-screen applications, since the touch-screen technology is applied in a different layer (IE, it is independent from the LCD or the OLED in the display).

Jacksonian, the active matrix OLED on the Clie VZ-90 was fabulous. Unfortunately, Sony was unable to mass manufacture OLED displays in sufficient quantities to make a profit.

Since January 2007, Samsung SDI has slowly began to mass manufacture these displays. Right now their OLEDs can be found in 2.2" displays on the Clix2 mp3 player, and a kyocera cell phone. Over the next 9-12 months they will begin ramping up to larger sizes, such as 3" up to maybe 5". It will probably be 2-3 years before we see laptop-sized screens, and as much as 5 years before we see small HDTVs with OLEDs.

OLEDs are great for PDAs and smartphones, they are far more energy efficient and vibrant and attractive than LCDs. They can be used with touch-screen applications, since the touch-screen technology is applied in a different layer (IE, it is independent from the LCD or the OLED in the display).

From what I know (or heard) though:

Samsung SDI wants to launch their OLED TV in the last quarter of this year (which includes their 40 inch model AMOLED model).

Sony is considering joining OLED production next year starting off with their 27 inch model (like the one in CES 2007) and then going to 40 inches in the last quarter of 2008.

So it still looks like OLED is launching within this decade (unless something unfortunate happens).

"Lee's stated intention to "expand the [OLED] territory to the 40-inch level television market in two or three years" should be approached with caution. We believe the company's cell-phone display production will use the proven vacuum thermal evaporation process for depositing the OLED materials. While this is a reasonable initial approach for small displays fabricated on substrates no larger than Gen 4, it would not be suitable for the larger fab generations required to produce large TV panels economically. Furthermore, the largest LTPS deposition equipment in the world is currently Gen 4.

This means that TV-size AMOLED panels will require fundamentally different OLED deposition and backplane fabrication processes than the initial phone-panel product - or Samsung would have to undertake a major, expensive and time-consuming scale-up of LTPS processing. These considerations make volume production of 40-inch panels unlikely in a two- to three-year time frame, although RGB AMOLED prototypes in such sizes are a definite possibility."

BlackRaven, unfortunately your information is incorrect. There is no way that Samsung SDI will be able to mass manufacture 40" AMOLED tvs by the 4th quarter of 2007. Samsung is SLOWLY SLOWLY ramping up, from 2.2" now to 3-7" displays over the next 12 months. This information is coming directly from someone I know who works at Samsung SDI, in the investor relations department. It is also consistent with Samsung SDI's own statements at their conferences.

Sony hasn't issued a precise time-table in recent months, other than to have said at CES that "we will probably do something [with OLEDs] within the year". This is widely believed to refer to small screens, like Samsung SDI is doing. Just like Samsung SDI, Sony does not have the infrastructure to create large-sized screens in bulk.

I'm looking forward to their arrival, but LARGE amoled screens aren't coming any time soon. The very earliest they are likely to arrive is at the end of the decade, not 2007. In the meantime I will enjoy smaller screens. There is a rumor right now by some Prudential Equities analysts that the iPhone will have an AMOLED screen created by Samsung SDI. I tend to disbelieve this rumor, but quite likely AMOLEDs will be used in the second generation of the iphone, and in many other small consumer electronics very soon.

The newly developed panel demonstrates the world's largest screen size for polymer-type OLED display panels using LTPS technology, accomplished through the use of newly developed techniques for uniform coating of organic electroluminescent materials and the optimized combination of electrodes and organic materials.

TMD has been concentrating its efforts towards the development of LTPS technology and OLED technology. Since the development of a 17-inch OLED panel in April 2002, which then was the world's largest screen size among OLED displays, TMD has been developing 2.0-inch, 2.2-inch, 2.5-inch, 2.8-inch, and 3.5-inch OLED panels ideally suited for cellular phones and compact mobile equipment and has been in mass production of 3.5-inch OLED panels.

An OLED panel reproduces images from light emitted by the fine organic electroluminescent film formed on the glass substrate, thus it can provide high-contrast, clear images with ultra-fast response time for moving picture performance. In addition, the OLED panel features an ultra-wide viewing angle, a thinner profile due to the eliminated backlighting system and other peripheral elements, and energy conservation offering eco-friendly advantages.

The new 20.8-inch OLED display has been developed based on LTPS technology, which TMD has been continually refining, and an electroluminescent coating process, which is advantageous for larger display screen sizes. The three (RGB) color-emitting layers use polymer organic electroluminescent materials, and an ink-jet type coating process is adopted for coating of each color. These have contributed to achieving a large screen size of 20.8-inch and would enable the expansion of potential applications of large-size OLED panels, which have been conventionally limited to smaller size screens.

In addition to the adoption of a top emission structure, TMD is now managing light at the nanometer level in individual pixels to improve the efficiency of distributing light produced from the color-emitting layers. This has contributed to higher brightness and lower power consumption.

The newly developed panel will be exhibited in TMD's booth at the 3rd International FPD Expo (Display 2007) at Tokyo Big Sight from April 11 through April 13, 2007.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A joint venture between Toshiba Corp. (6502.T) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (6752.T) said on Wednesday it aimed to launch TV-use organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in three years, taking aim at a $35 billion market dominated by LCD and plasma panels.

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co. Ltd., owned 60 percent by Toshiba and the rest by Panasonic maker Matsushita, aims to start commercial production of OLED panels for flat TVs by 2009, a spokesman for the venture said.

OLED panels are said to be energy-efficient, make thin and light displays, and have strength in showing fast-moving images.

In 2007, the market for TV-use liquid crystal display (LCD) modules is expected to come to $27.4 billion, while demand for plasma panel modules will likely total $7.5 billion, according to research firm DisplaySearch.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. <6758.T> said on Thursday it planned to start selling ultra-thin TVs using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology this year, likely becoming the first to market with a TV using the promising next-generation display.

Several companies are investing in OLED technology because it can produce bright, colorful images and does not require a backlight as do liquid crystal displays (LCD), allowing for a thinner panel. OLED panels are also said to be energy-efficient and good at reproducing fast-moving images.

OLED displays are already used in digital cameras, cellphones and other devices with relatively small panels. But cost and technology hurdles have so far prevented them from being mass produced for use in larger equipment such as TVs.

The new 11-inch OLED TV to be launched this year will be made by ST Liquid Crystal Display Corp., a joint venture between Sony and Toyota Industries Corp. <6201.T>, Sony spokesman Daiichi Yamafuji said, declining to give unit targets or a likely price.

"It won't be easy for OLED TVs to replace LCD TVs, but we would like to turn OLED TVs into a big new business," Sony Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara said in a speech at a display forum in Tokyo.

The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that Sony would begin by mass producing about 1,000 of the 11-inch OLED sets per month, and would aim to keep the TVs priced at within a few times of existing flat TVs.

That would be just a fraction of its LCD TV business.

Ihara said Sony slightly exceeded its target of selling 6 million LCD TVs in the business year ended last month, and reiterated a target to sell 10 million units this year.

The venture, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., announced on Wednesday it aimed to launch TV-use OLED panels in three years, taking aim at the $35 billion flat TV market, which is currently dominated by LCD and plasma display technology.

Sony is once again showing off their beautiful OLED TVs we first peeped at CES. No surprise there, after all, we love to gawk at that incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio just as often as possible. The real news is that Sony is finally ready to move an OLED TV into production. Sorry, not that bad-azz 27-inch model capable of Full HD 1080p. Nope, instead they'll be pushing out the 11-inch pup sometime "within 2007." We're talking 1024 x 600 pixels slathered across that wee 1M:1 contrast panel capable of 8-bit RGB color and covering more than 100% of the NTSC color gamut. Oh, and the display itself measures just 3-mm thick. Hot-freakin'-tastic. Unfortunately, it will likely suffer from a high price tag and short display life. Still, you'll be tempted, especially after seeing the set's razor-thin display in a profile shot after the break -- yeah, dramatic viewing angles too. Oh, Sony, why must you taunt us.

But don't toss out your current flat-panel TV yet. OLED TVs are still in their infancy, so they're pretty small and very expensive.

Sony's first commercial OLED TV will be 11-inches wide. It hasn't set a price yet, but analysts say it could cost about $1,000 at first.

"It's going to be pricey," said Vinita Jakhanwal, an analyst with market research firm iSuppli. Sony will sell them initially to well-heeled consumers and business executives as "status symbols."

Huge Hit At CES

Sony likely put OLED TV production on the fast track after the vivid, eye-popping colors of prototypes displayed at January's big Consumer Electronics Show produced such a strong response.

"People were just going bananas over it," said Barry Young, an analyst at market research firm DisplaySearch. "They had no plans before that time to get this out."

The reaction of retailers at the show was "extremely positive," he said. Sony showed off 11-inch and 27-inch models at CES.

Sony's rapid move into OLED TV production suggests that the company learned a bitter lesson from several years ago when it was slow to get into the flat-panel TV market. It has since fought back with its Bravia line of LCD TVs. Last year, Sony was No. 1 worldwide in LCD TV revenue, beating out Samsung and Sharp, DisplaySearch says. It's not a player in plasma TVs.

OLED televisions have the potential to become the next generation of flat-panel TVs, analysts say. But they say the technology faces significant hurdles.

OLED displays today are mostly smaller screens for cell phones and portable media players. Companies making OLED screens are struggling just to make those 2-inch and 3-inch displays, Jakhanwal says. Larger displays will be even more of a problem, she says.

New production processes must be developed to improve capacity and quality, and lower costs, she says. "Manufacturing processes are still quite undeveloped right now," Jakhanwal said.

There's also the question of the life span. Today's OLED displays have 30,000 hours of life, compared with hundreds of thousands of hours for an LCD screen, she says.

OLED displays reproduce images using light emitted from the self-luminescent properties of some organic materials. But these materials can degrade over time, she says.

Still, OLED displays ultimately could be cheaper to make than LCD or plasma displays because they use less materials, analyst Young says. They don't require a backlight.

If OLED televisions can overcome their cost, size and lifetime issues, they could give LCD TVs a run for their money. They offer a sharp, vivid picture that makes other flat panels look dull by comparison. Plus, their ultrafast response time is ideal for sports and other quick moving pictures.

OLED TVs also have a much wider viewing angle. So as you move to the side of the set, the contrast ratio doesn't change like it does for LCD TVs.

0.12-Inch Thick

And for TV owners obsessed with thin sets, OLED offers the thinnest yet. The screen in Sony's planned 11-inch OLED TV will be 0.12-inch thick. It probably will be about a quarter-inch thick when housed in a protective frame, Young says.

"You could basically paste it on the wall," he said.

But Sony isn't alone in developing OLED, or what it calls organic electroluminescent, televisions. Samsung, LG Philips, (LPL) Toshiba Matsushita Display, AU Optronics (AUO) and others are working on this.

But Sony hopes to gain the first-mover edge. It will use production of the 11-inch display as a learning experience, Young says. It will try to boost production volumes and improve process designs. At the same time, it will work on the production of much larger TV displays.

This year, the OLED display market is expected to generate $833 million from the sale of 97 million units. TV displays, though, will account for only about 5,000 of those units, says iSuppli's Jakhanwal.

But iSuppli expects the OLED TV market to generate $690 million in sales by 2012.

Sony will make its OLED display panels at a plant operated by ST Liquid Crystal Display, a joint venture it has with Toyota Industries.

Customers will have even more choices for next-generation TVs, as Sony is eying organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology and plans to launch OLED TVs soon while Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology (TMDisplay) also schedules to volume produce OLED TV panels in the next few years.

Sony's OLED TV will be launched this year and the product will be made by ST Liquid Crystal Display (ST-LCD), a joint venture between Sony and Toyota Industries, Sony spokesman Daiichi Yamafuji said in a recent report from Reuters. The company, however, declined to give unit targets or price level for the segment, the report noted.

Sony demonstrated two slim OLED TV prototypes at CES 2007 in Las Vegas (January 8-11). The 11- and 27-inch TVs are about 3mm and less-than-10mm thin, respectively. The TVs both have a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 while the panels used feature resolutions of 1,024×600 and 1,920×1,080, respectively, according to Sony.

The Japan-based company currently is focusing on LCD technology for TV application.

Sony started developing OLED panels in the early 90's and began mass production of full-color OLED displays in September 2004, according to the company. Sony's OLED production base at ST-LCD's production facility. ST-LCD mainly focuses on low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) panels.

After production commenced in April, 1999, ST-LCD sees accumulated shipments of LTPS panels reached 200 million pieces in August 2006, according to a company press release.

TMDisplay, a joint venture between Toshiba & Matsushita Electric Industrial, also aims to start mass production of OLED panels for flat-panel TVs by 2009, a spokesman said in another report from Reuters.

Early this month, the joint venture announced it has developed a 20.8-inch LTPS OLED panel for TVs and monitors. The company announced developments of a 17-inch OLED panel in April 2002.

Although OLED has been widely used in applications such as handsets, MP3 players and car-use devices, the technology has advantages in TV application over LCD. Firstly, OLED is a self-luminous, which means there is no need for backlighting. Also, OLED does not have the limited response time of TFT LCD. The response time of OLED displays is measured in microseconds, not the milliseconds associated with LCD displays. OLED display also features an excellent color reproduction, with most of them able to offer color gamut of over 100% NTSC standard.

Samsung SDI, LG Electronics (LGE), RiTdisplay, Pioneer and TDK were the top six OLED panel suppliers by revenues in 2006, according to DisplaySearch. Global OLED panel shipments totaled 72.1 million last year, up 29% from 2005, the research firm added.

Samsung Electronics unveiled a 40-inch active matrix (AM) OLED LCD TV in May 2005. Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) has worked with subsidiary Chi Mei Electroluminescence (CMEL) to develop AM OLED panels using LTPS technology from CMO and OLED equipment from CMEL. In the mean time, CMEL is also delivering samples of 25-inch OLED TV panels to clients, sources said this February. CMEL is currently focused on small- to medium-size OLED panel applications and is developing large-size OLED TVs.

Toshiba Corp. has revealed that it will release an organic EL (electroluminescence) TV product in 2009. Toshiba PR department commented on the screen size, "We have 30-inch class in consideration." Toshiba's President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida announced this at a management policy meeting held on April 12. At this meeting, Nishida said, "We are certain now that we will be able to launch our first product in 2009," regarding the commercialization of the organic EL TV, which the company had projected in "2015 to 2016" before. As for the screen size, he said, "We plan larger size than those Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. (TMD) have developed." Toshiba places a 30-inch class model in view, which is larger than the 21-inch prototype organic EL display that TMD announced on April 9 (related story from Tech-On!). "To prepare both the high-end and commodity models, we are currently developing panels made from polymer (organic EL) materials as well as low molecular weight materials," said Nishida.

Toshiba expects TMD to manufacture the panels that will be applied for its organic EL TV, according to the company's PR department. Toshiba, however, is yet to specify neither when the construction and operation of its organic EL panel plant will start nor the value of total investment at present. Commenting on the organic EL's competitiveness in the TV market, Nishida stated, "We don't expect that the organic EL can compete from the beginning on the equal footing with the LCD TV, which is released from many manufacturers across the world, but we believe its superiority will be recognized as production volume rises."

"Allow me to guarantee here that Sony will launch its first organic EL TV by the end of 2007." Katsumi Ihara, Executive Deputy President, President of TV and Video Business Group, Sony Corp., declared so at a display-related seminar held in Tokyo on April 12.

It is an 11-inch organic EL TV that Sony projects to launch within this year. The company showed its prototype at "2007 International CES" held in the US in January 2007. "We gained momentum from good reactions from people there," said Ihara. This prototype drew great attention and became the most focused item at the CES in January with the high quality of picture that only self-light emitting displays can render and yet only 3-mm thick slim body.

In his lecture, Ihara said, "We don't expect the organic EL TV to replace the LCD TV so easily. We consider proposing the organic EL TV as different from the LCD TV first and raising it big."

Following Sony's announcement, Toshiba Corp. also announced the release of a large organic EL TV product slated for 2009 in the afternoon on the day. Coverage on organic EL expanded in a scoop due to a series of announcements by presidents and executive officers of major electronics manufacturers. For organic EL, which is only at the beginning phase of the market after 10 years since the first commercial application was released, such trends are likely to work positively toward market expansion.

Sony said on Thursday it planned to start selling ultra-thin TVs using organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology this year, aiming to become the first to market with a TV using the promising next-generation display.

Several companies are investing in OLED technology because it can produce bright, colourful images and does not require a backlight as do liquid crystal displays (LCDs), allowing for a thinner panel. OLED panels are also said to be energy-efficient and good at reproducing fast-moving images.

At a display forum in Tokyo, customers, suppliers and even rival TV makers turned their backs on 50-inch and bigger TVs to throng before Sony's tiny 11-inch OLED TVs.

"LCD and plasma displays look faded in comparison," said a Denso employee who declined to be named, fighting to take a picture of the new TVs.

OLED displays are already used in digital cameras, mobile phones and other devices with relatively small panels. But cost and technology hurdles have so far prevented them from being mass produced for use in larger equipment such as TVs.

The OLED TV to be launched this year will be made by ST Liquid Crystal Display, a joint venture between Sony and Toyota Industries, Sony spokesman Daiichi Yamafuji said, declining to give unit targets or a likely price.

Sony has invested aggressively in LCD technology and is now the world's largest player in the LCD TV market. It makes big LCD panels in a joint venture with South Korea's Samsung Electronics.

"It won't be easy for OLED TVs to replace LCD TVs, but we would like to turn OLED TVs into a big new business," Sony Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara said in a speech at the display forum.

The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that Sony would begin by mass-producing about 1,000 of the 11-inch OLED sets a month - a fraction of its LCD TV business - and would aim to keep their price within a few times that of existing flat TVs.

"OLED sets are very expensive, and we mean to begin first by marketing the TVs as a status symbol," said Sony's Kazuhiro Imai, a senior manager of the company's TV and Video business group. "We will see where the business goes from there."

Ihara said Sony slightly exceeded its target of selling 6 million LCD TVs in the business year ended last month, and reiterated a target to sell 10 million units this year.

Other companies investing in OLED displays include Seiko Epson Corp., Canon Inc., Samsung and a joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita Electric.

Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida said on Thursday the company hoped to make larger TV-use OLED panels at the joint venture, Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, by 2009, taking aim at the $US35 billion flat TV market, which is currently dominated by LCD and plasma display technology.

Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical plans to produce organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in 2008, according to Japanese-language Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The company may invest 5 billion yen (US$42 million) to set up an OLED panel facility in Japan and may also parter with other electric machinery making companies in the future, the paper reported.

Nippon Steel Corp. and Universal Display Corp. (UDC) of the US have jointly developed a red phosphorescent material for organic EL panels, which has greatly improved lifecycle and luminance efficiency compared to existing materials. Its life, which represents the time before initial luminance of 1,000 cd/m2 halves, extends to 220,000 hours equivalent to five times that of the previous material. The material has also achieved luminance efficiency of 24 cd/A, 60% higher than that of the previous material. External quantum efficiency is 19% at 1,000 cd/m2 luminance, according to the companies.

Nippon Steel and UDC will focus on promoting the commercialization of the green phosphorescent material they developed in 2006 and developing a blue phosphorescent material. The two companies look to early form a lineup consisting of full color of phosphorescent materials by combining these green and blue phosphorescent materials with the aforementioned red one.

The fledgling technology of making ultra-thin displays using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) is starting to bear fruit finally with Sony, Samsung SDI and other makers introducing new applications.

Sony yesterday said that it is going to sell 11-inch OLED TVs for the first time in the world this year. Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, LG Electronics, LG.Philips LCD and Neoview Kolon are also investing in the technology, which should replace the current LCD and plasma panels in the long term, becoming the norm for digital displays.

Samsung Electronics Digital Media President Park Jong-woo said that organic displays can be a breakthrough in its TV business, as the competition for creating bigger screens now does not carry much meaning to consumers.

"No matter how better and bigger TVs get, people are not going to want a 100-inch TV in their bedrooms. So I think that Internet TVs or OLED TVs will be the product for creative management,'' Park said at a meeting with the press Tuesday.

OLED panels use certain organic compounds that emit red, green and blue lights in response to electric signals. Unlike LCD and plasma screens, OLED panels do not need an additional light source, or "backlight,'' so they are slimmer and more energy-efficient, and capable of showing clearer, fast-responding images.

Among the five Korean firms in the business, Samsung SDI is so far the most active in marketing its OLED products. The firm is selling small panels under 10 inches used in mobile phones, car stereos and other portable gadgets. One of the advanced models was adopted in a portable music player from Reigncom, iRiver Clix, which was launched with a fanfare in February.

For large TVs and monitors, Samsung Electronics has succeeded in making a prototype 40-inch panel but the high production cost and relatively short lifespan of the organic cells have stopped makers from mass-production.

"There are many technological issues to be solved for the mass production of the large OLED TVs. It will take some time for OLEDs to reach their full potential,'' said an official of LG.Philips LCD.

Industry insiders and market researchers say that it will take about a year for the OLED market to get into full bloom, because of difficulties in maintaining the panels' quality during manufacturing. According to a Samsung SDI insider, the yield in the manufacturing process for a 2.2-inch OLED - its main product - is only 40 percent, which means that only four out of 10 panels produced from the line are good enough to be sold.

"We will probably have to wait until next year to achieve an 80 percent yield,'' he said.

Market research firm Display Search also expects the OLED market will explode next year. It was a $491 million market last year and is expected to grow to $814 million this year. In 2008, it could expand to $2.3 billion, it predicts.

Samsung Electronics says that the firm has no illusions about the OLED market, and what Park said was just a long-term prospect.

"We have never have made a complete TV set with an OLED panel. Commercialization of OLED TVs is a long story for us. The cost is still too high,'' its public relations official said.

Universal Display Corporation (UDC) and Chi Mei Electroluminescence (CMEL), an affiliate of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) and subsidiary of the Chi Mei Group, announced on April 26 they have entered into an agreement for UDC to supply proprietary phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) materials and technology to CMEL for use in CMEL's manufacture of commercial active-matrix (AM) OLED display products.

Through the use of UDC's proprietary PHOLED materials and technology, OLED displays can be significantly more power efficient than AM LCD displays and up to four times more efficient than those displays using conventional OLED technology. Higher-power efficiency translates into reduced power consumption - an important benefit to end users of today's battery-operated cell phones and other portable devices, as well as tomorrow's large-size TVs.

Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, however, as is customary with these agreements, UDC will recognize commercial chemical sales and license fee revenues from its supply of this material to CMEL. The term of the agreement runs through December 31, 2008.

Over the past few years, UDC has announced a series of performance milestones for its red, green and blue PHOLED systems. UDC's PHOLED materials, manufactured by PPG Industries exclusively for UDC, are currently being evaluated and used in commercial production by a number of electronics manufacturers.

CMEL is currently focused on producing small- and medium-size OLED panel applications.

Metal mesh: A grid of 200-nanometer-thick metal wires could
be used as a flexible and robust transparent electrode
to light up flat-panel displays and organic LEDs

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are attractive because they are bright, efficient, and thin enough to be flexible. But they are currently limited to use in small displays, such as those in mobile phones. That's in part due to the failings of one piece of the device, a transparent electrode used to light up the display. Now researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new type of electrode that could help clear the way for large, flexible OLED displays.

OLEDs consist of organic semiconductor layers sandwiched between two electrodes, one of which must be transparent to allow light to escape. Today's displays use a transparent film of indium tin oxide (ITO), but this material is expensive, fragile, and inflexible, which makes it unsuitable for large-area flexible displays. It can also degrade the organic light-emitting layers.

The new electrode is a grid of highly conductive metal wires so thin that they are essentially transparent. Electrical-engineering and computer-science professor L. Jay Guo says that the electrode should be more flexible and less expensive than ITO, while not degrading the organic materials. The researchers incorporated the grid into an OLED as the top electrode and observed no *visible difference in brightness between their LED's light emission and that of a conventional OLED made with an ITO electrode, although Guo says that he and his colleagues will need to do more-detailed optical measurements to see how the two compare. The work is described in an online paper in the journal Advanced Materials.

The researchers made grids of copper, gold, and silver, with wires 120 or 200 nanometers wide and separated by gaps of about 500 nanometers in one direction and by gaps of 10 micrometers in the perpendicular direction. The excellent conductivity of these metals and copper results in a resistance as small as five ohms, which is less than the average ITO layer's resistance.

The researchers use a technique called nanoimprint lithography, which allows them to make a grid of wires that can be transferred to any other surface, including a substrate for a flexible display. (See "10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World.")

By changing the width and height of the wires, the researchers can change the transparency and conductivity. Making the wires thinner makes the electrode more transparent, but at the same time, the thinner wires have higher resistance. So the researchers double the wires' height, which reduces the resistance by a factor of three but decreases the transparency by only 5 percent, Guo says. "There's great potential [to] play around with these parameters," he adds. "[There's] a lot of room to optimize the structure."

Jorma Peltola, who is a consultant with flat-panel display manufacturers, notes that while finding a robust, flexible alternative to ITO is a priority for the OLED-display industry, better organic materials and manufacturing methods will also be required before OLEDs can move into the marketplace for larger displays.

Also, the new technique faces a tough challenger: carbon nanotubes. Researchers are developing carbon-nanotube films that could replace ITO. Nanotube films presently have about three times higher resistance than the new metal grid for comparable transparency, but that difference is small and shrinking with new developments, says Andrew Rinzler, a physics professor at the University of Florida, who is studying carbon-nanotube films. Also, unlike the metal grid, nanotube layers contact every portion of the organic semiconductor layer that they are deposited on, which should increase device efficiency.

But as a first-time demonstration, the metal-grid idea is worth pursuing, Rinzler says. "The possible problems and competing technologies notwithstanding, this is a potentially viable technology that is well worth exploring."

OIDA believes 2007 will be a breakout year for OLEDs, said Dr. Wright, Our research shows that OLED sales will exceed $1B in 2008 growing to $20B annually by 2017. Among the developments highlighted in his talk were:

Recent announcements indicate that benchmark performance for large format flat panel displays presage the performance capabilities of these technologies.

OLEDs for solid state lighting are projected to deliver over 220 lumens/watt performance in the lab and production efficiency of 130 lumens/watt by 2017

OIDA is updating its OLED roadmap for display and lighting application, which will be published later this year.

Dr. Wright pointed out that recently several manufacturers announced displays with more than 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 1-2 orders of magnitude better than LCD technologies. In addition, the technologies for large displays is 2-3 times more energy efficient than LCD or EL technologies. Likewise, this emissive technology can be used for lighting taking advantage of the flexible substrate to offer unique and special purpose lighting with very high efficiency.

About OIDA

The Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) is a Washington DC-based, not-for-profit association that serves as the nexus for vision, transformation, and growth of the optoelectronics industry. OIDA advances the competitiveness of its members by focusing on the business of technology, not just technology itself. OIDA members include the leading providers of optoelectronic components and systems enabled by optoelectronics, as well as universities and research institutions. OIDA provides roadmaps, reports, and market data for the optoelectronics industry, serves as the voice of industry to government and academia, acts as liaison with other optoelectronic industry associations worldwide, and provides a network for the exchange of ideas and information within the optoelectronics community. Learn more about OIDA at www.oida.org.

For the average consumer, the minute differences between flat-screen liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions and plasma display TVs are near-impossible to detect with the naked eye.

But the next generation of flat-screen TVs are a breed apart. The clean, crisp images on Sony's 11in, 3mm thick organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV are so arresting that the line between TV and reality becomes blurred. One journalist peering at a screen muttered that it was akin to looking out of a window.

Last year, flat-panel TV prices fell by 25 per cent and this year similar - if not greater - price declines are expected. Against this backdrop, Japanese consumer electronics makers are scrambling to gain a foothold in the next generation of flat-screen technology.

Sony is set to begin selling 11in OLED TVs by the end of the year, while Canon is aiming to sell its 55in surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) TVs within roughly the same time. Toshiba, Sony's main rival, wants to launch a 21in OLED TV by 2009 along with Matsushita, its joint venture partner.

OLED technology, which is not exclusive to Sony, uses the ability of some organic chemicals to emit their own light when an electric current is applied. OLED screens require no backlight, so they can be as thin as 3mm and produce better quality pictures at a lower energy cost.

It will take a couple of years until we make a profit with OLED . . . there are a lot of issues to overcome, says Katsumi Ihara, Sony's executive deputy president.

We need to find a mass-production manufacturing process for the larger screen size. The current process requires too much money.

SED panels, meanwhile, provide very clear colour and do not require a back-light, reducing electricity usage and materials costs. Canon, however, is embroiled in a legal dispute in the US with a company called Nano-Proprietary over SED patents - a move that could delay the entry of its product into the crucial American market.

Analysts expect it will take at least another five years before next-generation TVs become commercially viable. The technology is still immature, and the biggest hurdle is the ability to mass produce larger panels.

After 2010, OLED is a promising technology, says Koya Tabata, a consumer electronics analyst at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.

Sony has been working on it for almost a decade. The problem with [Canon's] SED technology is that it is only to be used in TVs, whereas OLED can be used in separate applications, such as mobile phone displays, he says.

Elsewhere in Asia, industry executives are shunning the next generation of TV technology. In Taiwan, which surpassed South Korea last year as the world's largest production base for LCD panels, executives do not expect OLED to evolve as the future mainstream technology for flat-screen TVs.

It will be very difficult for this technology to survive, says Lee Kuen-yao, chairman of AU Optronics, the world's third largest LCD panel maker.

Sony has never bet on the right horse in display technology. Why should they be right this time?

Henry Wang, head of industry researcher WitsView, says that Korean and Taiwanese panel-makers will have to brace themselves if there are real breakthroughs in OLED in Japan.

The Taiwanese found that ramping OLED faces immense challenges, he says.

And in spite of Sony's recent noises, that still seems to be the case - even Sony can do no more than 1,000 panels a month.

In South Korea, Samsung's affiliate, Samsung SDI, has been more aggressive in entering the OLED market. The company has earmarked Won 466.5bn ($501m) as a first-stage investment in OLED panels between 2006 and 2007. It aims to produce 20m active matrix OLED panels this year and wants to increase output to 50m panels in 2008 to capture the high-end mobile phone market.

The company plans to mass produce small-size AM OLED panels in the third quarter. It has developed 2in and 4in AM Oled panels for mobile TVs and is currently testing the technology.

But even Sony executives admit that the battle over bigger LCD and PDP TVs will continue in the foreseeable future, in spite of the emergence of nascent technologies such as OLED and SED.

I do not think that LCD will last until the next century, but I also do not think that LCD will disappear next year, says Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president.

Confidence in the Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display market was initially undermined by hype from vendors. During the infancy of the market it was predicted that OLED would replace LCD within a period of five years. Now, however, OLED is on the way to establishing a strong position in mobile applications where the combination of low power consumption and excellent optical performance gives real advantages to consumers. This is the view of Myrddin Jones, CEO, OLED-T speaking today at the Future Horizons International Electronics Forum in Athens, Greece.

"The OLED industry has spent the past few years trying to bring the amazing technology demonstrators to mass production. But the dominant incumbent technology, LCD, has had a 30 year start on the OLED industry with high yields and a mature infrastructure," said Myrddin Jones, CEO, OLED-T.

"The OLED industry was originally too optimistic about the speed of commercialisation of the technology. Only now, with new materials bringing improved lifetimes and with the establishment of dedicated active matrix production lines in Asia is the market becoming a reality."

OLED is gaining significant market share in the mobile product market in applications such as mobile phones, media players and digital cameras where its high performance and low power consumption benefits deliver improved product performance for mobile products, in particular with video.

OLED has numerous technical benefits that make it ideally suited to mobile applications compared with LCD including lower power consumption, faster switching speed, broader colour range, higher contrast, up to 30 per cent decrease in weight and 50 per cent decrease in thickness.

"OLED-T has a broad portfolio of OLED materials. It has developed a broad patent position and is well-placed in the industry as the market moves firmly into a stage a commercial development," said Craig Cruickshank, principal analyst, Cintelliq.

OLED is developing into an important market for the display industry as well as the chemical industry. Materials are estimated to make-up 20 per cent of the value of the OLED supply chain.

The worldwide flat panel display market was worth $70 billion in 2006 and is forecast to rise to $100 billion by 2010 according to major display analysts. OLED is the fastest growing non-LCD display technology and by 2010 it is predicted that it will be worth more than $2.5 billion.

OLED-T produces high performance OLED materials for use in the manufacture of OLED displays. The materials are suitable for both active and passive matrix OLED displays, and can also be used for lighting and flexible displays.

About OLED-T

OLED-T is leading the research, development and commercialisation of a pioneering class of organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials, called ELAMATES, for OLED displays.

OLED is a new generation of flat panel displays that exhibits numerous benefits over LCDs, particularly for portable applications. These benefits include faster switching speed, lower power consumption, higher contrast, lighter and thinner, and displays a perfect image from every direction.

Invented by OLED-T, the ELAMATES portfolio of materials offers significant advantages of cost, performance and large scale manufacturing capability to a flat panel display industry eager to reap the benefits of this new generation of display technology. The materials offer dramatic efficiency improvements of up to 80 per cent, and lifetimes of as much as three times that of competitive OLED materials.

OLED-T has over 60 patents in the area of OLED materials and device structures. It sells its materials directly to OLED display manufacturers primarily in Asia.

Chung was referring to a new display technology -- offering brighter screens and lower power use -- which Samsung SDI hopes to mass-produce from the third quarter of this year and, by 2009, to use in television sets.

At present, the price of an AM-OLED mobile display is roughly 60 percent higher than LCDs.

Sony Corp. said last month it planned to start selling ultra-thin TVs using OLED technology this year. A joint venture between Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. is also investing in OLED technology.

Local rival LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. is also expected to enter the market sooner or later.

AM-OLED screens -- standing for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode -- are seen as a promising display technology because they produce brighter images, respond faster and consume less power.

Makers were hoping the new display would quickly replace LCD on high-end multimedia mobile phones and portable media players, but demand has remained sluggish so far as handset makers, locked in a price battle, have been reluctant to buy the more expensive product.

AM-OLED display makers also face serious technical challenges in their efforts to expand the lifespan of their products -- a key requirement for a technology that wants to move from mobile phones to televisions.

"Currently, our technology is about 20,000 hours. It should have at least 50,000 hours or more for TV application," Chung said. "Our target is by 2009 we will meet this requirement."

Despite the technical and financial obstacles the slim, lightweight and energy efficient displays are seen as a candidate to make an ideal mobile TV, analysts say.

Further ahead, Chung said, AM-OLEDs could be used on flexible or transparent supports such as fabric and glass.

"That's when we will see real differentiation (with other display technologies)," Chung said.

Samsung SDI, which makes plasma displays and traditional cathode-ray tubes (CRT) for TVs, has been struggling with sliding prices and low shipments in the midst of intensifying competition with LCD screens.

Plasma makers appear to have no choice but to wait for consumer demand to move up to the 50-inch-and-bigger category, where PDPs are expected to remain cheaper than LCDs for the next two or three years.

"The display industry is going through a tough time," Chung said, "but people will always need display."

Asked about the prospects for PDPs, Chung said the technology still had a strong future.

"PDP still has a lot of room to bring down costs," he said, citing new processes that only use one layer of integrated circuits instead of two.

LG.Philips LCD has announced that it has developed the first full-color flexible active matrix (AM) OLED (organic light emitting diode) display that uses amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology. LG.Philips LCD has developed this display in cooperation with Universal Display Corporation (UDC), which holds the original patents for phosphorescent OLED (PH OLED) technology.

The 4-inch full-color flexible AM OLED display features 320×240 QVGA resolution and can reproduce 16.77 million colors. At 150μm, this display is barely thicker than a human hair. It uses a stainless metal foil substrate to ensure durability and protection against heat, which improves the manufacturing process and enhances product stability, noted LG.Philips LCD.

OLED technology is recognized as an optimal technology for use in flexible displays. It allows LG.Philips LCD to develop a flexible display with improved durability and reliability while delivering full-color and high-resolution. Most importantly, using a-Si backplane technology allows LG.Philips LCD to use its existing TFT LCD production line for these AM OLEDs, a major step toward demonstrating the commercial viability of such products. LG.Philips LCD is the first company to employ this technology, the maker said.

In 2006 the company revealed a 14.1-inch monochrome electronic paper (e-paper) display. In 2007, it became the first company to introduce a color version in the same size.

LG.Philips LCD will unveil the full-color flexible AM OLED display at SID 2007 in the US on May 20.

DRESDEN, Germany, BUSINESS WIRE -- Novaled has achieved outstanding results in lifetime for both, top and bottom emission PIN OLEDs. More than one million hours at an initial brightness of 1,000 cd/sqm have been reached.

Novaled achieved unsurpassed lifetime results for top and bottom emitting red fluorescent devices. A red bottom emitting Novaled PIN OLED(TM) shows a luminance drop of only 4% after 6000 hours measurement at a starting brightness of 3,700 cd/sqm. The record top emitting red PIN OLED shows a luminance drop of even only 1% after 1,000 hours measurement at a starting brightness of 12,000 cd/sqm. Both OLEDs are down calculated to more than one million hours (corresponding to one century) at starting brightness of 1,000 cd/sqm.

In addition, major lifetime improvements have been shown for green phosphorescent PIN OLEDs (100,000 hours at 500 cd/sqm for Ir(ppy)3 based top emission OLEDs). With this value Novaled has doubled its performance for Ir(ppy)3 based green OLED stacks during the last twelve months. "We are confident to reach one million hours lifetime with more performing phosphorescent emitting material", says Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth, CTO of the company.

About Novaled

Novaled AG is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technologies and proprietary materials. The company is a spin-off from the University of Dresden and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Main investors include Credit Agricole Private Equity, TechnoStart, TechFund Capital Europe and CDC Entreprises Innovation. Founded in 2001, Novaled experienced rapid growth, maturing into a world-class company. The enterprise commercializes its Novaled PIN OLED(TM) technology along with its proprietary OLED materials to display makers and lighting companies. The company has a strong IP position in OLED technology based on more than 220 patents granted or pending. www.novaled.com

About OLEDs

OLEDs are semiconductors made from thin layers of organic material only a few nanometers thick, which emit light. In a fast growing market OLEDs are key parts of a revolution: the dream of paper-thin, flexible, highly efficient displays with brilliant colors and high contrast is becoming reality. OLEDs represent the future of ultra flat panel displays as well as a vast array of new lighting applications.

The newly developed panel demonstrates the world's largest screen size for polymer-type OLED display panels using LTPS technology, accomplished through the use of newly developed techniques for uniform coating of organic electroluminescent materials and the optimized combination of electrodes and organic materials.

TMD has been concentrating its efforts towards the development of LTPS technology and OLED technology. Since the development of a 17-inch OLED panel in April 2002, which then was the world's largest screen size among OLED displays, TMD has been developing 2.0-inch, 2.2-inch, 2.5-inch, 2.8-inch, and 3.5-inch OLED panels ideally suited for cellular phones and compact mobile equipment and has been in mass production of 3.5-inch OLED panels.

An OLED panel reproduces images from light emitted by the fine organic electroluminescent film formed on the glass substrate, thus it can provide high-contrast, clear images with ultra-fast response time for moving picture performance. In addition, the OLED panel features an ultra-wide viewing angle, a thinner profile due to the eliminated backlighting system and other peripheral elements, and energy conservation offering eco-friendly advantages.

The new 20.8-inch OLED display has been developed based on LTPS technology, which TMD has been continually refining, and an electroluminescent coating process, which is advantageous for larger display screen sizes. The three (RGB) color-emitting layers use polymer organic electroluminescent materials, and an ink-jet type coating process is adopted for coating of each color. These have contributed to achieving a large screen size of 20.8-inch and would enable the expansion of potential applications of large-size OLED panels, which have been conventionally limited to smaller size screens.

In addition to the adoption of a top emission structure, TMD is now managing light at the nanometer level in individual pixels to improve the efficiency of distributing light produced from the color-emitting layers. This has contributed to higher brightness and lower power consumption.

The newly developed panel will be exhibited in TMD's booth at the 3rd International FPD Expo (Display 2007) at Tokyo Big Sight from April 11 through April 13, 2007.

Wow that was quite fast.

Hmm...Toshiba and Matsushita are involved? If so, then maybe I can make a few guesses/assumptions:

Toshiba:
Since their SED business is full of problems and lawsuits, they (Toshiba) now at least have a back up plan by investing in OLED in-case their SED venture (with Canon) fails.

Matsushita:
If so, then Panasonic will indeed venture into OLED production for HDTV as their new business before the decade ends (aside from current plasma TV production which is their forte)

In any case, when will this new TV be released for sale to the public?

EDIT:
Apparently that set does look....weird.

It would be better off without that black casing thingy surrounding the main screen area.

"He cited the active matrix organic EL (electroluminescence) display as a potential successor to the SED. That is why Toshiba invests in the polycrystalline Si (p-Si) TFT line (at Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.), he added. However, "The technology has only become applicable to a 3- or 4-inch display and it is impossible to create a 40-inch organic EL display in 2 to 3 years. It is even difficult to achieve it in 2015 to 2016. We will pursue the SED until then, but management requires to consider about 10, 20 years ahead," Nishida said."

Here is an interesting article. It claims that Sony that will mass-producing and then selling a couple thousand 11" OLED TVs during the 2nd half of 2007. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, neither Sony nor Samsung SDI has the capability to mass-manufacture these TVs in big enough quantities to really matter much. Sony for example is going to making 1,000 per month and they 'declined to estimate a price per unit'. That's japanese for 'realllllllllly realllllllly expensive'.

The Nikkei business daily reported earlier that Sony would begin by mass-producing about 1,000 of the 11-inch OLED sets a month -- a fraction of its LCD TV business -- and would aim to keep their price within a few times that of existing flat TVs.

"OLED sets are very expensive, and we mean to begin first by marketing the TVs as a status symbol," said Sony's Kazuhiro Imai, a senior manager of the company's TV and Video business group. "We will see where the business goes from there."

Toshiba to Launch Organic EL TV in 2009, 30-Inch Class in View
Toshiba Corp. has revealed that it will release an organic EL (electroluminescence) TV product in 2009. Toshiba PR department commented on the screen size, "We have 30-inch class in consideration." Toshiba's President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida announced this at a management policy meeting held on April 12. At this meeting, Nishida said, "We are certain now that we will be able to launch our first product in 2009," regarding the commercialization of the organic EL TV, which the company had projected in "2015 to 2016" before. As for the screen size, he said, "We plan larger size than those Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. (TMD) have developed." Toshiba places a 30-inch class model in view, which is larger than the 21-inch prototype organic EL display that TMD announced on April 9 (related story from Tech-On!). "To prepare both the high-end and commodity models, we are currently developing panels made from polymer (organic EL) materials as well as low molecular weight materials," said Nishida.

Toshiba expects TMD to manufacture the panels that will be applied for its organic EL TV, according to the company's PR department. Toshiba, however, is yet to specify neither when the construction and operation of its organic EL panel plant will start nor the value of total investment at present. Commenting on the organic EL's competitiveness in the TV market, Nishida stated, "We don't expect that the organic EL can compete from the beginning on the equal footing with the LCD TV, which is released from many manufacturers across the world, but we believe its superiority will be recognized as production volume rises."http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english...070413/130804/

i'm pro oled and new technology, but am i the only one who thinks that 30" in 2-3 years time is not really something to brag about?

it's tiny and seriously, who cares about the contrast on a 10-30" screen?
at that rate the first oleds worth mentioning won't be around until 2015, when we finally get 50-60", by when plasmas will hopefully be 70" and bigger at a fraction of the cost.

yes, work on it, but constant talking about it doesn't make it any more relevant today nor thsi year or as it seems, next year.

Engadget also posted the news of a 30" Toshiba OLED TV in 2009. Now only if their forecast isn't as faulty as it has been for SED.
I would love to see a 30" OLED manufactured. I have a small living area and a 30" set would be great. For a number of years I had a 30" Loewe Aconda till it's system board failed and never felt the screen size was too small. So yes there is a market for 30" HDTVs.

"i'm pro oled and new technology, but am i the only one who thinks that 30" in 2-3 years time is not really something to brag about?"

Well, no, I mean it's profoundly irrelevant from a home-theater perspective to introduce a 30-inch set in 2009 or 2010. It's going to be pricey and LCDs will presumably be awfully good and $500 or so by then at 30 inches.

On the other hand, there won't be 50 and 60-inch and larger OLEDs until someone starts commercially mass producing smaller ones. So in that sense, it's very exciting news >>when<< someone starts shipping a 30-inch TV using OLED technology.

Let's hope this is the real deal.

There is no difference in HDMI cables. If you can see the picture without visible dropouts or sparklies, the cable is working at 100%. No other cable will display a better version of that picture. You're simply wrong if you think there is a better digital cable than one that is already working. (Oh, and plasma didn't die because of logistics problems, nor does OLED ship in big boxes because it comes from Korea.)